


Do You Love Me?

by hao1107



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Idol-Verse, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hao1107/pseuds/hao1107
Summary: In which Jun and Minghao realize they are in love through 36 questions.(inspired by the Modern Love podcast)
Relationships: Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	1. Start

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! I wanted to finish this whole story before The8 of June, but as per usual I did not. So I just posted the prologue anyways. There will be 4 chapters. Hope you enjoy this short snippet, and happy Junhao day!
> 
> The idea for this story comes from Mandy Len Catron’s Modern Love essay “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This” and the Modern Love podcast episode with the same title, so credits to them! Check out the originals here (delete the spaces before and after the periods):  
> nytimes . com/2015/01/11/style/36-questions-that-lead-to-love . html
> 
> Hope everyone is staying safe and taking care of themselves in these difficult times. <3

Jun fidgeted nervously with a napkin across the table from Minghao. They were sitting in a restaurant that Minghao had booked out. After the sommelier had opened an expensive-looking bottle of red wine, Minghao politely dismissed him, and silence blanketed the room.

Jun coughed a little. "Isn’t this where you filmed the wine tasting with Shua hyung for that vlive show?" Minghao nodded while pouring two glasses of wine. "You know I don’t know anything about wine, right?"

"That’s okay. Try this, and let me know what you think," he handed one glass over to Jun and gently bumped their glasses together in a cheers. After a tentative sip, Jun smiled at the sweet, earthy flavor swirling in his mouth and warmth growing in his chest. Minghao smiled back. "You don’t need to be an expert to enjoy good wine."

"So is anyone else coming?" Jun asked, feeling his insecurities creep up. Minghao shook his head. "Oh, I would’ve thought you would have invited Shua hyung or Mingyu."

Minghao sighed, "You’re making me feel hurt. You don’t like spending time with me alone?" A playful gleam in Minghao’s eyes told Jun that he wasn’t serious, and his heart did a flip.

Jun didn’t mind spending time with Minghao alone, not at all. He alternated between aching for and being tortured by Minghao’s presence. He had held onto his unrequited crush for the boy throughout their trainee days, their closest times, and their eventual drifting as their interests changed. It had been a long time since Minghao had asked him to hang out, and Jun’s mind raced to overthink it.

"Ge?" Minghao said, his head innocently cocked to the side. Jun focused his eyes back on Minghao. It also had been a long time since Minghao had called him that instead of hyung, and more warmth flooded his system.

"Have you heard about the 36 questions study?" Minghao asked. Jun didn’t know what he was talking about. He could never be as intellectual as Minghao, but he loved to listen Minghao ramble excitedly about what he read in books.

"Well, there was a psychologist that tested whether two strangers could grow closer and fall in love by asking 36 questions that get more and more personal. And two friends tried it and ended up getting married," Minghao explained matter-of-factly while Jun was stuck repeating the way Minghao said "love".

Minghao paused, and Jun realized he was supposed to respond. "That sounds interesting. Do you think it really works?"

Suddenly, Minghao looked unsure compared to a few minutes ago as he slowly replied, "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to try it with me?" Jun felt his heart dropping towards the ground in hope, fear, and a hundred other emotions in between. "I mean...just as friends. I want to try it for science, and I know the others would make fun of me, so I decided to ask you because you’re the most understanding. And it’s totally okay if you don’t want to do it because it’s weird, but—"

"Minghao," Jun interrupted. "I’m happy to try it with you." He spoke with confidence to reassure them both that it would be fine. _But would it?_


	2. Set 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow along with your own answers!
> 
> Questions 1-12:  
> 1\. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?   
> 2\. Would you like to be famous? In what way?  
> 3\. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?   
> 4\. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?  
> 5\. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?  
> 6\. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?  
> 7\. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?  
> 8\. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.  
> 9\. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?  
> 10\. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?  
> 11\. Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.  
> 12\. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

Minghao pulled up the questions on his phone and set it in between them. "I’ll go first, and we’ll take turns?" Minghao read, "Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest? Hm, I would probably pick Yixing ge because we didn’t get to talk enough on Idol Producer, but it would be cool to get advice from one of our Chinese sunbaenims."

Jun remembered when he was watching clips of Minghao on Idol Producer and analyzed his interactions with the other mentors, particularly Lay and Jolin. He would compare it to how Minghao acted with him on CYZJ, and though there was no comparison, Jun would let his anxious thoughts take over— _what if Minghao liked one of them?_.

Jun forced a small smile. "I would picked Tia jie because she really helped my singing, and I owe her a dinner."

Minghao nodded in approval and motioned for Jun to read the next one. Jun chuckled as he read aloud, " Would you like to be famous? In what way? We already are famous though."

Minghao refused to accept this answer and said with a frown, "Be serious, ge."

"Okay, okay. I always wanted to be a ballad singer. I think that’s obvious by now, " Jun sighed, remembering how excited he was to sing before being put into performance unit. _At least you get to sing more now,_ he reminded himself.

Minghao blushed to Jun’s surprise. "It’s a little early, but I…may have written you a ballad for your birthday?" Jun gasped. His heart hammered. "Oh Haohao, that’s the sweetest thing anyone’s done for me. Thank you."

Minghao held Jun’s fond gaze for a second before turning back to his phone. "I always wanted to be an artist, not just an idol. The next question is: Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?"

Jun chuckled again. "I think we know each other too well for these basic questions. Should we skip some?" Minghao glared at him. "No, we have to do all of them in order! What if we miss something? Anyways, I don’t really rehearse anymore except when talking to the company higher ups. Remember when you used to help me practice what to say to order takeout even?" Jun agreed, and they reminisced about their difficult days with the new language.

Jun tapped the phone and scrolled to the next question. "What would constitute a “perfect” day for you? Having the day off for sure." Minghao nodded, tiredness flashing across his features. "I’ve been playing a lot of Animal Crossing lately, so probably just playing that a lot, getting good Chinese food, and staying in bed." _Doing all that with you would make it more perfect._

Minghao smiled and replied, "That sounds nice. My perfect day would be similar except I’d rather paint or read than play games. We should get dinner again when we’re off next Thursday. " The hopeful tremor in the corners of Minghao’s smile made Jun’s heart thrum, and he agreed easily.

Minghao cleared his throat. "When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else? And no, Carats don’t count as someone else," he said before Jun could open his mouth. "I sing to myself when I paint, so it’s been a while. To someone else…probably you when I asked your opinion on my song." Minghao’s emotion-filled voice singing the haunting melody floated through Jun’s head, and he wanted to hear it sung only for him again.

"I sing in the shower every day, and I sang to Chan last night to help him fall asleep," Jun murmured. "So, if you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want? Guess which one I would pick?" he asked with a teasing smirk.

"Easy. Body because you think yours is so great," Minghao retorted. "I would pick mind." Jun shrugged, it was obvious. He was only _slightly_ hurt that Minghao tacked on the "you think". "Next question: do you have a secret hunch about how you will die? Not really, I would rather die from old age."

Jun scoffed in disbelief. "Come on, Hao, don’t be so _boring_. I think I’ll choke to death on my hot dog."

"That’s boring too," Minghao shot back with a grin. "What if I hit myself with a nunchuck?" Jun nodded with mock seriousness, and they both dissolved into giggles, hands meeting briefly across the table before retracting.

After a few moments, the atmosphere felt more relaxed between them. Jun read, "Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common. I won’t say Chinese, happy?" Minghao’s lips quirked. "Let me think, just appear huh? We both have sharp jawlines." Minghao made a noise of disagreement. "Stop, you have a great jawline. We both have long necks and great makeup skills," Jun ended with a wink. He couldn’t help but take another scan of Minghao’s look: he was wearing a striped blazer thrown over a white t-shirt with loose trousers, and his unstyled dark brown mullet and light makeup made him look so soft. Somehow, his natural talent made him seem like a model despite the casual outfit.

Jun played with the buttons of his cotton button-up and raked a hand through his burgundy hair as Minghao unabashedly stared at him to find his answer. "I think you said everything," he said with a small pout. "Maybe we both have long noses, we’re both wearing white, and we look similar with that closed-mouth half-smile you love to do for the camera." You look much prettier doing it than me, Jun caught Minghao whispering.

"Hao, you are gorgeous with any expression," Jun blurted before his mind could catch up to his mouth. Minghao flushed a dark red and turned his head to his phone, but Jun noticed it anyways.

"For what in your life do you feel most grateful?" Minghao read after he had quickly collected his cool. "Just being able to live my dream and touch people’s lives."

Jun hummed, "Yes, that. And doing that with my brothers. I am lucky to have met Seventeen." Minghao held out his glass to toast their good luck, and they both finished the wine in their glasses. "If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be? I haven’t talked about this in a long time, but I wish I learned how to sing or dance before becoming a trainee. It would have my life a lot less hellish at that time." Minghao’s face was filled with sympathy, and Jun just waved him off. "It worked out. How about you?"

"Well, I was going to say be taught how to paint, but that feels superficial now," Minghao muttered.

"That’s not superficial, Hao, your art is one of the most important things to you. But I think your lack of training makes your art as great as it is," Jun replied. He watched Minghao’s hand twitch as if he wanted to reach out for something.

Minghao spoke, "Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible."

"Come on, we could recite each other’s life story in four minutes. Can we just skip one?" Jun whined.

Looking at his watch that read 9:00PM, Minghao reluctantly agreed. Jun’s face lit up at the next question. "Here’s a fun one! If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be? I would want to be able to cook. I mean, you know I love food and would eat anything, but I would like to be able to cook delicious food for my future partner." Jun trailed off, staring at Minghao. 

Minghao just laughed breathily. "That person would be lucky to not get food poisoning from you with your current skills. I would want to freeze time, so I can do more things in a day."

Minghao stood up to get a different bottle and refill their glasses. "So that was the first set out of three. How do you feel? Do you want to keep going?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the crimson red liquid flowing into the glass.

Jun took a deliberate sip of the wine, swishing it in his mouth the way Minghao had instructed. "I feel great." He blamed his blush on the alcohol as Minghao smiled brightly at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY COMEBACK DAY!! What do you guys think of the album? My favorite song is Fearless, but they're all perfect. And STREAM IF YOU CAN! Our boys deserve everything and more. :')
> 
> I tried to push out this chapter for comeback day, so there may mistakes (will edit again later). Man, it's hard coming up with answers for both Jun and Minghao for each question. I'm with Jun on skipping a few.
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated!!! :) -k


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